No Plans For Generic Medicines

The Government has decided not to progress with plans for the generic substitution of medicines in primary care, Health Minister Lord Howe announced today. Following a full public consultation the Government published its response outlining the reasons why proposals, which would have allowed dispensers to replace branded drugs for generic versions when dispensing a prescription, will now not be implemented in England.
 Doctors and other frontline health professionals have always based their prescribing decisions on individual assessments of their patients' clinical circumstances and will continue to do so. Prescribers are free to prescribe branded or generic medicines, and nearly 85% of prescriptions written for patients are already for generic medicines. The further use of generic medicines may still provide valuable savings and the Department of Health is instead building on existing initiatives as well as looking at other ways of supporting the use of generic medicines where it is appropriate and safe and does not add extra burdens for healthcare professionals.

Baker Appointed To Extradition Review

Sir Scott Baker will lead an independent panel to conduct a review into the UK's extradition arrangements, the Home Office announced today. Sir Scott Baker, who presided over the inquest into the death of Princess Diana, will be joined by two independent lawyers with expertise in extradition matters; David Perry QC and Anand Doobay. The review, announced by the Home Secretary in September, will look in detail at the following five key areas of extradition legislation:

• The breadth of Home Secretary discretion in an extradition case
• The operation of the European Arrest Warrant, including the way in which its optional safeguards have been transposed into UK law
• Whether the forum bar to extradition should be commenced
• Whether the US-UK Extradition Treaty is unbalanced; and

• Whether requesting states should be required to provide prima facie evidence

Firm Pays For Teenager Injuries

A Lancashire plastics company has appeared in court after a teenage apprentice suffered serious injuries when his arm was dragged into a machine. The worker, from Blackburn, who asked not be named, dislocated his left shoulder and broke his arm in May 2008 while working at General All Purpose (GAP) Plastic's Blackburn factory on Partnership Way. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the company following an investigation, which found that the company did not take adequate steps to prevent access to the most dangerous parts of the machine. The apprentice, who was just 17 at the time, was helping to assemble decorative panels for doors when he was dragged in between two rollers while trying to clear a jam. More than two years after the incident, he has still not regained full use of his hand. Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard that GAP Plastics should have provided fixed guards covering dangerous parts of the machine. The additional risk posed by the worker's lack of experience had also not been assessed. General All Purpose (GAP) Plastics Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching work regulations. The company was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £4,500 towards the cost of prosecution.

(BMcN/GK)